Metal Detecting Law in Wales: Same Treasure Act, Different Institutions
Wales shares the Treasure Act 1996 with England, so the definition of treasure and the 14-day reporting clock are identical. What differs is who you deal with — and getting that wrong wastes weeks. Historic England has no jurisdiction in Wales. The British Museum does not run the recording scheme here.
Treasure law: identical to England. Scheduled monuments: Cadw, not Historic England. Recording and treasure administration: Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales through PAS Cymru. Landowner permission always.
Treasure — the same rules
The Treasure Act 1996 applies in England, Wales and Northern Ireland alike, and the 2023 amendment that added the significance-based class applies in Wales too. So the tests are:
- Non-coin objects 300+ years old containing at least 10% gold or silver
- Two or more precious-metal coins of that age from one find
- Ten or more base-metal coins of that age from one find
- Prehistoric metallic objects (precious metal, or two or more of any composition)
- Anything found with treasure
- ⭐ Since 30 July 2023: any object with any metal part, 200+ years old, of exceptional national or regional significance
The obligation is the same: report to the coroner within 14 days of the find, or of the day you realise it might be treasure. Failure is a criminal offence carrying up to three months’ imprisonment and/or a fine. Wales has a dedicated coroner network, and in practice most reports route through the museum rather than direct.
Who you actually deal with
| Function | In England | In Wales |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduled monument consent | Historic England (s.42) | Cadw — Welsh Government historic environment service |
| Recording scheme | PAS, British Museum | PAS Cymru, through Amgueddfa Cymru |
| Treasure administration | British Museum | Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales |
| Nature designations | Natural England | Natural Resources Wales |
| Treasure definition | Identical — Treasure Act 1996 as amended 2023 | |
Detecting on a scheduled monument in Wales without written consent is an offence under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979, exactly as in England — but the consenting body is Cadw. An application to Historic England for a Welsh site will go nowhere. Landowner permission does not substitute for scheduled monument consent.
Wales is densely scheduled relative to its size — hillforts, Roman sites, industrial monuments, medieval castles and their surrounding earthworks. National Park authorities such as Bannau Brycheiniog (Brecon Beacons) and Eryri (Snowdonia) publish their own detecting guidance, and it is generally restrictive.
Permission and access
Wales does not have Scotland’s general right of responsible access. Access is via public rights of way and designated open access land under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 — and CRoW access rights do not include metal detecting, any more than Scotland’s do. You need the landowner’s permission, and where there is a tenant farmer, both.
- Foreshore — much of the Welsh foreshore is Crown Estate, operating on the same permit basis as England (not Scotland’s permit-free position). Surface searching with hand tools, finds reported. Some beaches are leased to councils with separate byelaws.
- SSSIs — permission from Natural Resources Wales required.
- National Trust land — the Trust holds substantial Welsh coast and countryside. Not without express permission.
- Common land — Wales has a great deal of it. Commons still have owners; “common” does not mean unowned.
Report it in Welsh if you’d rather
Amgueddfa Cymru operates bilingually, and PAS Cymru’s Finds Co-ordinators cover the whole country. Recording non-treasure finds remains voluntary — as in England, it is the goodwill that keeps the system permissive, and the Welsh dataset is much thinner than England’s, which makes each recorded find proportionally more valuable to the archaeological record.
Where we stand
Wales is the jurisdiction people get wrong by assuming — they read an English guide, correctly conclude the Treasure Act applies, and then waste a month applying to the wrong body for scheduled monument consent, or reporting a find into the English system. The law is the same; the institutions are not.
The practical upshot is straightforward: learn two names before you go — Cadw for consents, Amgueddfa Cymru / PAS Cymru for finds — and Wales is as workable as England.
The law elsewhere in these islands
Sources
- Treasure Act 1996, s.8
- Cadw — scheduled monument consent in Wales
- Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales / PAS Cymru
- National Council for Metal Detecting — Treasure Law
- Bannau Brycheiniog National Park — metal detecting guidance
Checked 18 August 2026. Plain-English guide, not legal advice.